SPQR
by alebrewer
Summary: YAHF, I think just about everybody who Loves BTVS fic has to write a Halloween fic that starts out, 'a small alteration to Xander's costume has unexpected consequences...' This one is mine. Xander not wanting to be unarmed after dark causes him to grab a gladius from the weapons cage in the library while Giles is out.


Just a work of Fanfiction, if you recognize the characters or plot, someone else owns it.

This has been floating around on my hard drive for months, TtHfanfic being down this weekend caused me to work on it. ~Alebrewer 19Jan15

SPQR

Looking around the shop, Xander thought that he really needed a job. Willow telling him that his fatigues didn't really constitute a costume put a crimp in his plans. Having to buy a costume because he got shanghaied into chaperoning kids seriously ate into his money. He could usually cadge a few dollars from his dad's laundry, the drunk bastard didn't miss the odd dollar here and there, but he needed a source of money for things like having to buy the odd costume let alone ever being able to afford a car.

As much as he enjoyed the views of his two female friends stretching and bending to look at what the costume shop had available, Xander was glad when the experience was over. The owner of the store seemed to be slimy. Seeing Buffy choose the eighteenth century dress with corset and hoops put Xander off because he knew she was only doing it for the walking corpse. Xander really didn't like Angel. When they found out he was a vampire his already low opinion of the brooding rival dropped. After having to drag him at cross point into the Master's layer to save Buffy, he lost all respect for the two hundred year old coward. Truth be told, Buffy using him as a prop to make Deadboy jealous really hurt his opinion of her judgement, but she was a friend and she needed friends to stand by her. He pretended not to hear Buffy try to coax Willow into showing more of her wild side. He wondered how she would look dressed to impress for Halloween, maybe he would find out. He clutched the bag with his plastic rifle and face paint and headed off to add one more piece to his costume.

The majority of his costume came from his road trip supplies and an army surplus store. He could wear the pants again. The shirt he affixed his grandfather's unit and rank insignia to. The helmet really was surplus and had the name **Lucan** stenciled inside. The jungle boots, once he added a pair of cheap insoles, were as comfortable as his sneakers and probably a lot better for patrolling. a two dollar plastic gun and fake set of dog tags completed the ensemble.

Xander ducked into the library to get a machete he remembered moving when he helped Giles clean up after the Master's rise. Just because Buffy told them that Halloween was a quiet night didn't mean Sunnyvale was safe. If he was going to be out after dark, with a group of kids under his care, he wanted a little more than the two stakes he usually carried. He was glad G-man wasn't in the library when he arrived. He let himself into the cage and went to the weapons cabinet. He needed to be quick as he didn't think the watcher would agree with his logic. He couldn't find the machete that he remembered seeing. Deciding quickly he picked up the shortest sword that was there, a gladius if he remembered right. Ducking into the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror. Threaded on his belt it stuck out like sore thumb. Oh to have the ability to tuck a long sword under a shirt or jacket and have it completely disappear. He hadn't thought about this when he'd come up with this idea. He knew the troll of a principal would probably use the excuse to expel him. Shrugging off his rucksack which was a surplus backpack that he had in his road trip box with a bit of his camping gear in it to keep it from looking empty, he lashed the short sword to the frame so that it wasn't readily visible but could still be drawn. It wasn't the most comfortable, but he figured that being prepared and not expelled was the better part of valor. He settled his toy gun with its bright orange muzzle-break over his shoulder. Drawing the sword swiftly he said, "There can be only one." Looking at himself in the mirror. Snickering to himself, he sheathed the sword.

"Harris, where have you been?" Snyder demanded as he turned the corner to the main entry way.

"Sorry sir, I had to go to the little G.I.s room." Xander snapped what he though was a good attention and saluted, "Sgt Harris reporting for trick or treating duty. Sir!"

"Enough of your shenanigans Harris. Try to show respect to the uniform that you wear." The principal sneered at him causing Xander to stiffen. "Try not to infect the children you will be leading with your delinquent behavior."

Snyder led him over to a group of kids and said, "Here are you charges, their parents are picking them up in the school lot at six." Snyder turned and walked away.

Xander mentally did the math that was almost an hour after sunset. Figuring that he didn't want to antagonize the nasty little man any further he didn't say anything. Once Snyder was gone, he turned to his charges. They appeared to be between eight and ten.

"Okay troops, let us review SOP for maximum candy retrieval. We work as a unit – Pvt Spidey" he said pointing to the kid in the Spiderman costume, "Can you tell me why a raccoon gets caught?"

"N-no," the boy replied

"A raccoon is caught because it grabs things too big for its hand and won't let go. So, there will be no trying to grab a big handful of candy unless the adult tells you that you can. A warning about 'you missed me' and tears, it can work but can also backfire and should only be attempted in the most dire circumstances, or chocolate." Xander spoke to his charges taking on an over the top air, which made the kids giggle. "Are you ready to come back with a full sack?"

At the enthusiastic nods and smiles of the kids, he said, "Right face, move out."

Willow watched all this as she explained the same to her group of kids, she thought not for the first time that Xander would make a good dad.

Xander took pleasure in watching his charges. Between houses he coached them for maximum candy, getting smiles as his suggestions worked. He eyed the full darkness and the lit street lights.

"Okay kids, two more houses and then back to meet your parents." Xander announced to the group.

Elsewhere in Sunnydale, a crimson robed priest knelt before his alter. "Janus, Guardian of Portals, let what is portrayed become, let chaos reign, your ever degenerate servant entreats you." He cut his palm and anointed his forehead with blood, bending forward he placed his palms and brow on the altar in supplication, "I beseech thee, open the portals."

Ethan Rayne slumped forward passing out before the two faced statue of his god. A wave of power flowed outward from him passing through the town turning costumed pretenders to real demons . Children playing at being heroes and princesses or the aspects of pirates and witches became real.

Marcus of the Lucani came to himself standing in the middle of a strange street. Somehow he had been transported from the north of Gaul to this place where the street was smoother than the finest promenade of Rome. He looked around to see creatures of myth and nightmare running rampant in the streets.

"Janus, grant this warrior of Rome your favor in this time of strife." He was wearing clothing that he didn't recognize but felt his sword at his back. Drawing his sword moved to stand next to one of the odd objects at the edge of the road while he assessed the situation. He couldn't see any of his cohort.

"Xander!" he heard a woman's voice yell, turning towards the voice he saw a comely young red head in brief attire run towards him. Something in his mind told him she was speaking to him.

As she rushed up to him, he held up his hand, he didn't see any weapon but was still wary. She ran at him and he made to deflect her to the side only to have his hand pass through her body.

"Xander," She said again urgently and then babbled something in a language he didn't understand.

"Spirit is there some unfinished business that you have here or did your family not provide you with the ferryman's toll?" Marcus asked warily.

The apparition spoke rapidly again unintelligibly.

"Do you have some message from my ancestors, spirit?" he asked.

The redhead stopped and looked at him puzzled, if the situation hadn't been serious, he would have found it adorably cute.

"Speak Latin, why? Danger people become clothes they have." She said in halting and difficult to understand speech.

"I am Principes Marcus of the second Lucani Legion, would you prefer I speak in Greek?"

"No Greek, Latin, but slow, I speak little," the girl replied, "bad magic – I wore spirit – You wore soldier – We brother – You not soldier – You scholar." She gestured to the small creatures running around who seemed to be ignoring him probably due to his brandished sword. "These not creature – These children."

He was trying to puzzle out what she had said when he heard a sound like cavalry charging in a gatehouse tunnel. He was suddenly spun around and thrown against the metal of the thing he'd been standing next to, he felt searing pain as he heard breaking glass. The apparition started to scream and as his vision dimmed, he saw a man advancing towards him carrying a short spear. His hand scrabbled on the hard surface of the road and wrapped around the hilt of his sword as he lost consciousness.

Tony Lucan's eyes snapped open, he was slumped against a car on a residential street at night. He saw the eyes of the Viet Cong standing over him go wide, he didn't give him time to react stabbing him with the short sword that he held. He pushed the enemy soldier so that he wasn't pinned as the soon to be dead Charlie fell, he cautiously stood and surveyed his surroundings. He was no longer in country but appeared to be on an American street, the cars were very different but that wasn't what worried him. The last thing he remembered was boarding a chopper in a hot LZ for dust-off. Right as the fast movers were dropping everything they had on Charlie, their chopper was hit.

"You killed him!" a feminine voice said. He looked over to see a redhead walk around the corner of the vehicle.

"Well yes, he shot me." Tony replied. Looking to see a teenage female in a brief outfit, He wondered what part of America he was in, probably California, he'd spent a few days on the beach before deploying from Port San Luis.

"Now you speak English?" she said

He realized that she had made the statement in Latin.

"Yes, what do you mean now?" He asked. As he spoke he cleaned his weapon and sheathed it taking his M-16 off his shoulder and checking to make sure it was loaded and charged. He also took a moment to pull the gloves out of his pack and put them on in case he had to deal with anything sharp or hot.

"A minute ago you spoke Latin – What are you doing?" the red head asked, seeing him carefully turning over the body.

"Standard procedure Miss, don't leave weapons behind that another enemy can pick up." He said setting aside the Kalashnikov. He pulled some extra magazines for it out and set those next to it. "Also," he said holding up a Colt 1911, "if we find American weapons we try to track them back to the owner." He held up a wallet, "if we find US documents it helps us figure out who's been capture or killed."

"But Xander, that's not a Vietnamese soldier that's a college kid wearing a costume, you shouldn't have killed him."

Sgt Lucan stood up, he shouldered his weapon and clipped the holster for the 1911 to his belt. Taking the AK and changing the magazine on it. "I don't know what you are talking about, this is a real rifle, those are real bullet holes," he said pointing to the car he had been slumped against, "and I assure you," he said sticking a finger in one of the holes in his shirt where he'd been shot, "this man shot me, now you seem to know some of what is going on. Tell me." He ordered, scanning the area.

She looked like she was going to hyperventilate but calmed herself, "Your name is Xander Harris, you are a student at Sunnydale High and my best friend. We were guiding kids on trick or treat when something happened to turn us into our costumes, you were dressed as a soldier, I was dressed as a ghost," seeing him looking her up and down, she explained. "This is the outfit I was wearing underneath a traditional ghost white sheet – to impress you(she mumbled) – when whatever magic hit I became incorporeal and now we need to find Buffy, a friend who deals with supernatural stuff – and most of these creatures are children in costumes, so no killing"

He gave her a hard stare.

"Okay no killing unless it's an actual demon or vampire and to save somebody and try not to kill the pint-sized demons, those are kids in costumes. Adult sized ones may actually be demons."

"Miss, where is your body, is it safe?"He asked.

"It's over on that porch, behind the planter. It should be safe." Willow responded, "Let's find Buffy then we can worry about my body." With that she took off down the street.

Lucan just shook his head and followed. As he scanned the neighborhood, he noticed a small creature gleefully dismembering a poodle, but most of the smaller monsters seemed to be following larger ones and not actively attacking anyone. They rounded a corner and heard screaming from a small park.

"That sounds like Buffy," Willow said racing across the street, Sgt Lucan followed much more carefully. Seeing three men who appear to be pirates surrounding a brown haired girl in an antique dress, he stealthily approached hearing the girl address them.

"Do not touch me. I assure you, my father will pay a handsome price for my return unharmed," she said obviously frightened.

One of the pirates grabbed her by the arm causing her to scream, as they laughed, Lucan buttstroked one of them in the base of the skull causing him to crumple to the ground. He used his momentum to come around to the second one and laid him out with a strike to the side of the head. The third pirate who held the woman pulled her in front of himself and brandished a cutlass.

"Come any closer and the wench gets it."

The Sgt backed away and trained the rife on his opponent switching the fire selector to single shot.

"you dare to use your musket on me?" the pirate asked, gesturing with his sword. "Have you no fear of striking my hostage."

"No," the soldier said and calmly shot the man in his exposed shoulder when his gestures took the blade away from the girl/young woman.

The force of the shot threw him to the ground, the woman the pirate had been holding scrambled away from her captor whimpering. Lucan stepped over and kicked him in the head rendering him unconscious.

"What was that?" the red haired ghost asked shrilly, "I thought I said no killing."

"I didn't kill him, I shot him, he was threatening her," he said pointing at the woman he'd saved. "Is this Buffy?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Buffy, only my father uses that name, did he send you?" the young woman said in clipped accent. "I will thank you good sir for assisting me in returning to my father's estate." She took in Willow's attire and said, "Is this woman your wife that she berates you in public?"

"No miss, just a friend who guided me to you." He said as he efficiently searched the three men he'd neutralized. Tossing swords and flintlock pistols off into the bushes, pocketing what appeared to be gold coins, he stood.

"I don't know who this low creature is, but if she is not your wife, would it be possible to find a more suitable chaperone, One of my upbringing should not be seen in her company."

Willow looked upset, while he shrugged, "So far, she is the only guide I've found here. Speaking of which, is there someplace we can take refuge and can we retrieve your body?"

As they approached the street the brunette screamed seeing a car's headlights, "Demon."

Lucan tried to calm her, "'Tis not a demon my lady," he said in French, "'tis a form of carriage."

Willow guided them to find first her body and then she led them to a house that she claimed was Buffy's house. Dealing with the dead did not seem to upset Lady Elizabeth but pretty much everything else about where they were did. As they walked Willow explained that although this was a new experience, unfortunately Sunnydale was home to all kinds of supernatural. She told him what vampires looked like and how to kill them. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to distinguish between someone whose costume made them a monster and real monsters who apparently this Buffy girl normally hunted but he decided that objective one was keeping them safe. Arriving at the house, Willow directed him to fish a key out of the pocket of her skirt, even though her body was cold, the spirit Willow blushed fiercely as he had to worm his fingers into the tight pocket past her hip to do so. Entering the home they checked to make sure there were no surprises, with as much insanity in the town as there was, he was surprised to find the back door unlocked. He quickly threw the dead bolt on it. Thinking about Willow's admonishment that there be no killing he got a bat from the hall closet after laying Willow's body in a guest room bed. Everything looked similar to what he knew but very different, like the cars which still had four wheels but except for some obviously older ones, weren't the cars he remembered, The TV was huge as was the refrigerator. Lucan looked in a mirror and saw that his face did not look like his own and there were pictures that showed the ghost girl, He, and the noble woman, although 'Buffy' had blonde hair in most of the pictures. As he was looking at the picture, there was screaming out front, he looked to Elizabeth, as she had told them to call her, and Willow.

"Stay here I'll be right back." He looked out the front door to see a girl wearing a cat costume that reminded him of a girl he'd seen when he visited the playboy club in Chicago. She was being chased by what he could only say was bigfoot. Coming down the steps in a single leap, he went to intercept her.

"Xander," she screamed seeing him, "Help me." She said as he passed her to put himself between her and the monster.

Minding Willow's admonishment to not kill, Lucan sidestepped the creature that came at him and, with a swing to the gut that would have made Duke Snyder proud, he dropped the creature. Knowing that a full swing at the head could kill just as easily as a bullet, he settled for a kick that silenced the hairy beast. He guided the upset young woman into the house. Willow walked up to her. "You're not a cat, your name is Cordelia Chase, you're a high school student and we're friends of yours."

"Yeah, like I'm really your friends, I barely acknowledge your presence," said the exasperated woman in a condescending tone of voice, "and when did you start taking crazy pills? Of course I'm not a cat."

"Wait you didn't turn into your costume?" Willow asked.

Lucan didn't really pay attention to their conversation, he was focusing inside, yes he could sense the souls of the quickenings that he'd taken melded into his own being but there were two presences that should not have been there. One seemed wild, wilder than any quickening he'd taken. The other seemed young but he could feel the steel of its resolve. Leaving the wild one for later as he knew it would require time and concentration he may not have, he went to assimilate the knowledge and power of the younger one.

He felt immediate resistance but this was completely different than anything he had felt in centuries. 'Xander,' he projected, 'I mean no harm, your friend Willow says you both became your costumes, I need your knowledge to keep both us and your friends safe this night.'

He felt cautious acceptance and an in rush of memories and personality – parents that weren't worth a bullet – mediocre grades because he spent too much time trying to save the world – having to stake his best friend – the way he was dismissed by Buffy as the normal one – how much he disliked Angel and the reasons why – his friend Willow and how much she cared about him. Lucan's outside perspective saw how big a crush she had on him. He focused on the recent memories particularly the last two days.

His reverie was interrupted when he heard knocking on the door.

"Buffy?" he heard the man outside say.

Lucan looked and the Xander personality identified him as Angel.

He opened the door, letting the Vampire in.

"Who is this man?" 'Lady Elizabeth' asked.

"Buffy?" Angel asked confused.

Willow explained quickly, "We bought our costumes from the new shop and turned into what we wearing, Buffy dressed as an eighteenth century noblewoman. Cordelia rented her costume at Party Town and didn't change. We need to get Giles help. He said he would be in the library. You guys stay here, I will go get him."

"It's not safe out there," Angel protested.

"I know, but I'm uniquely able to go," Willow said walking through the door, causing Buffy to faint and Cordelia to Gawp.

"She went as a ghost." Lucan explained. After a moment, he turned to the Vampire, "Angel, you stay here and keep them safe, if Mrs. Summers gets back, try to keep her safe I'm going to the costume shop to see if I can find anything out anything."

"Okay I can see that Willow is a ghost so can't be touched by most things how are you going to defend yourself?" Angel asked.

"I'll do alright," he said hefting the AK-47. After taking a moment to empty his backpack and leave the m16 and ammo behind with Angel. He took off down the street at a fast jog. He mostly ignored the goings on around him only stopping when he encountered a group of vampires. He crouched behind a car seeing them playing cat and mouse with a girl he thought he recognized from Xander's history class. His/Xander's mind told him that they had to be staked or beheaded. He had a thought, taking aim, he squeezed off a quick head shot. Dropping the first Vampire, seeing that it worked, he shot the other two before they could react. The girl they'd had cornered ran off. Xander quickly closed the distance. The first Vampire he'd shot started to move so he shot him again. He shouldered his rifle and beheaded two of the vampires dusting them. The one still there was the Vamp he'd shot twice it wasn't moving so Lucan quickly disarmed him – well what would he call cutting off the vamp's arms at the elbows. Checking the wrist of the vamp, he found an expensive watch, pocketing that, he proceeded to mug the walking corpse, finding jewelry, a wallet, a set of car keys a wad of cash he then lopped the demon's head off. He continued on to downtown, where he saw multiple businesses with broken windows and alarms going off, but no signs of cops. He found the door to Ethan's open, reloading he cautiously entered.

There was no one in the front room, he looked around seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Hearing a noise, he turned bringing his weapon up.

"Hello soldier, how can I help you?" Asked the smug looking man holding his hands up.

"Hello again Mr. Ethan, You can tell me how to end the spell that's making people their costumes." Lucan said menacingly.

"I'm afraid I don't know anything about that." The shop proprietor said with a grin.

"We figured out that everyone who changed bought their costume from your shop." Taking aim between Ethan's eyes. "I don't have time for this. How do I end this before my friends get hurt?"

"Why would I want to end such delightful chaos."

"I don't have time for this," Lucan said again and shifting his aim he shot Ethan in the knee, the older man went down screaming. Shouldering his rifle, Lucan walked forward, drew his sword, and coldly stepped on the fallen man's hand. He twisted his foot, the now broken bones of his enemy's hand ground together causing his screams to renew.

"One more time, before I get creative, How – Do – I – Stop – This?" punctuating each word of his question with a shift of his heel.

"The bust of Janus in the back room is the focal point of the spell, smashing it will end the magic." The older man whimpered.

The part of him that still prayed to Janus when he entered conflict recoiled at the words. This man would have him destroy the image of a god – a god whose power was invoked to create this strife – he would not risk angering Janus in this way. Having spent a decade as Rex Sacrorem for a town Spain, he felt his anger rise. Lucan reached down and lifted the injured man off the floor holding him up by his hair and forcing him to hobble with the tip of a gladius against the sorcerer's kidney. Seeing the bust of Janus on a make shift altar Marcus Lucan invoked the god in the tongue of his birth, "Lord Janus, I thank thee for keeping me safe in this time of strife. I thank thee for keeping my friends safe in this time of strife. I thank thee for allowing me to continue to serve you." He felt the man he was holding up start to struggle, "Janus with this sacrifice I pray that the doors of your temple are closed and I thank you again for your favour." With that he slit Ethan's throat using his sword to anoint the four directions with blood before wiping blood across the front of the altar.

A wave of magic pulsed off the statue. Xander dropped the man's corpse letting his sword clatter to the ground. He looked around shocked at what he'd done for a split second before Lucan's instincts kicked in. he wiped the blood off the gladius and sheathed it. The AK47 was back to being plastic a toy, the Colt he'd taken off the man he'd shot oddly was still real. He'd been wearing gloves, but didn't want to leave anything he may have touched without them behind in case he left fingerprints. He decided that making it look like a robbery would probably lead to the fewest questions. He quickly emptied the cash register and looked in the office for any additional money and to see if there was surveillance making sure to throw things around. From the office he also grabbed a couple bottles of vodka that were on a shelf thinking about the detective novels he read. He ducked out through the back door into the alley taking off down the alley to get away from the costume store, he ducked into the next block. he saw that someone had broken in the back door of the surplus store, drawing the pistol, he entered, He saw that the burglars had smashed the alarm box and had torn the security cameras off the wall. There didn't appear to be anyone around so he quickly grabbed a new set of fatigues and boots transferring the things from his pockets into the new outfit. He noticed blood on his rucksack and grabbed a new one. The items that had blood on them he dumped in a trash bag. Lucan was still guiding his actions but Xander's mind protested that he was stealing from someone who hadn't done anything wrong unlike Ethan. 'Us not going to jail for murder is more important than that nicety at the moment. We can leave money on the counter if you like?' Lucan thought back at him. Having bagged up everything, Xander left some money on the counter and walked out through the back door, Xander found a metal trashcan emptying it he dumped the two bags of stuff into the can.

He knew it was a risk, but he quickly cut his grandfather's insignia off the fatigues and soaked them with one of the bottles of vodka. For the rest, he used a can of camping gas he'd grabbed on his way out of the surplus store and saturated the clothes and toy guns. He lit a piece of paper with the Zippo he'd 'purchased' tossed it in the can. Watching it to make sure it was fully engulfed before taking off at a run. Vampires may go unchecked in this town but he would go to prison if they could connect him to Ethan's death. As he left the downtown he noticed a group of children being chased by a vampire, he followed and efficiently beheaded the vampire. Seeing the group of frightened kids look up at him, he put away the sword and knelt down.

"Hey guys, aren't you supposed to be back to meet you parents by now?" he asked. Seeing the panicked nods he stood, "Okay let's go, I'll make sure you get back to school." A short walk later he delivered his charges back to the high school.

"You're late Harris," Snyder said not even noticing that he brought back a different group of kids. "I've had worried parents waiting for the last half hour –" His rant was cut short as another group of kids shambled into the parking lot.

Xander saw Giles pull into the lot and walked over to him.

"Xander, where have you been?"

"I was going to check out the costume shop that Willow figured out was the source of whatever was going on but then ran across a group of kids that were being chased by a vampire I managed to kill it and just got back here with the kids." Xander answered not bringing up his trip to the store. "Is Willow okay?"

"I don't know, she disappeared when the spell broke," Giles said.

"I left her body at Buffy's can you take me there?" Xander asked.

"You remember what went on while under the spell?" Giles asked motioning for Xander to get in the car. Xander did, shrugging off his pack and holding it in front of as he sat in the seat.

Giles looked over at him after pulling out of the parking lot. "Is that my gladius?" the Brit asked.

"Yes, I would have asked you but you weren't in the library. I thought that quiet night or not, planning to be out after dark unarmed around here was a bad idea."

"Well – yes – I see your point, but you know I wouldn't have said yes." The Librarian replied.

Xander shrugged. "Then it's a good thing that I didn't ask."

Giles didn't reply as he pulled into Buffy's driveway.

Their knock was answered by Buffy, who, seeing Xander okay, gave him a rib cracking hug. "Xander, thank you for saving me." She released him letting them come into the house.

A red-haired missile streaked off the couch, "Xanderi'msogladyou'reokayyouscaredmewhenyouweren'therewhenthespellwasbroken." She wrapped herself around him babbling. Tears streamed down her face.

"I'm okay," he said impulsively tilting her face up and giving her a kiss. She stopped babbling and looked at him shocked. He hugged her close. "Is everyone okay?"

"Other than the fact that Buffy was a feather brained noblewoman, Willow was a ghost, salty goodness here" – she gestured to Angel – "actually is a vampire, and I'm not going to get back the deposit on my costume? Yeah Great." Cordy said caustically.

Giles suddenly appeared uncomfortable, "Miss Chase, I assure you, you are mistaken."

"No I'm not," she said stomping her foot, "He showed his demon face when something tried to break in the kitchen door. Willow explained to keep me from freaking out."

Giles took off his glasses to clean them looking at Willow annoyed, she shrunk into Xander's side. "Well then Miss Chase, can I be certain that you won't speak indiscriminately about such matters?"

"Do you think I want to be relegated the status of these losers or tossed in the looney bin?" Cordy huffed. Xander noticed Buffy stiffen at that.

"Well then, may I deliver those students that live elsewhere home?" the Librarian asked. Getting nods from the three he turned to Buffy, "Another rough night, you are all safe, so I guess that is good. I will see you at school for training tomorrow?"

"Yep, I'll be there." The blonde said.

Xander followed Giles and the two girls out to his car after a hug from Buffy which he swore made Angel tense.

Cordelia looked like she stepped in something at the sight of Giles' Citroen. "Really you expect me to ride in that?"

"Would you prefer to walk?" Xander asked before Giles could respond.

A tense few minutes later Giles dropped Cordelia off at her home. Willow made no move to get out of the back seat still clinging to Xander's side.

"Xander, Willow said that you were shot and may have killed a man."

"Well, unless the spell ending brought him back to life, I'm pretty sure I did. My gun reverted to plastic so I'm not sure how much of what happened was real."

"I can assure you it was real enough there is at least one death I know of." Giles responded.

Xander, Schooled his expression, "I'm not sure how I feel about that, the man I killed shot me and didn't give me any warning or choice, I had to stop him."

"Speaking of that, how did you survive? Willow said you told her you were shot," Giles asked.

Xander thought about how to answer this, Lucan's thoughts telling him to not share the truth, "Fortunately comic book soldiers can shrug off little things like being shot and be healed two panels later."

Giles pulled up in the street in front of Willow's house. "You two be safe." Giles admonished them as they got out of the car.

Xander walked Willow to her door.

"Wils, I'm so glad you're okay," he said giving her a hug. She tilted her head up and kissed him briefly blushing as she pulled away.

"Thank you Xander, whether it was you or your costume, you made sure my body was safe." Willow said leaning back.

Xander couldn't repress a smile thinking of something, he reached in his pocket and sheepishly handed her a key ring.

"What?" Willow asked, "oh" – her eyes went wide – "Oh."

"If I didn't mention before you look quite fetching this evening Miss Rosenberg," Xander said with a smile.

"Thank you Mr. Harris," she said cheeks continuing to pink. She looked at her watch. "It's not late, do you want to come in and watch a movie?"

Xander thought briefly, "That sounds great. Let me go home and change out of this costume and I'll be back in a twenty minutes."

With one more hug they separated and Willow went into her house. Xander walked the three doors down to the much less well kept home he lived in. slipping over the fence rather than opening the noisy gate, he let himself into the basement room that he had recently moved into. Xander dropped his backpack and snuck upstairs avoiding the two steps that he had purposely made squeaky. His parents were watching TV both with drinks in hand, they didn't appear to be arguing and the TV had just cut to a commercial, both good signs.

He stepped into the living room, "I'm home, finished doing the volunteer thing I'm going to change and then go over to Willow's to watch a movie."

Getting a whatever response from his dad and his mom's nod, he went to the kitchen thinking that was so much better than the alternative of a tirade and his dad making negative comments about Willow.

He quickly grabbed a soda and threw together a sandwich before heading downstairs shucking off his clothes. He made a quick run through the shower, wouldn't do to have missed any blood. With a towel wrapped around his waist, he sat on the bed and contemplated the very real pistol and two magazines as well as the wallets he had taken from the person dressed as Viet Cong and the vampire. He made sure to put gloves on before handling them. One of the wallets was for a twenty year old student from UCSD, so assuming they stayed dead, he had killed someone wearing a costume. He pulled the money out of it and noticed there were also a couple of condoms that looked new tucked into the wallet. He wrapped the wallet in a piece of paper and tucked it into his sock drawer to deal with later. The other wallet was for a David Jones and contained an Arizona driver's license that showed that the owner was currently thirty. Since the Arizona license didn't expire for twenty-five years and both credit cards had expired six months ago, Xander assumed that the owner was blowing dust in the wind. He counted out the money and added the almost a thousand dollars to his road trip fund hiding the gun with the money behind a trick wall panel, Lucan's instincts making him shift his desk over in front of it after placing cardboard under the feet of the desk to keep from marking the floor. Looking at his watch he quickly brushed his teeth and got dressed. Heading over to Willow's, she had changed out of the tight skirt and crop top she'd been wearing and was now in an equally attractive, he thought, long sleepshirt. They settled down in the den.

"So what are we watching?" Xander asked settling on the sofa.

"I was thinking Point Break or Much Ado about Nothing?" Willow said.

Xander smiled knowing that Willow had a thing for Keanu Reeves.

"Hmm, Keanu in board shorts, or Keanu being evil and speaking flowery language."

"Well – I" Willow squirmed.

Xander smiled at her, "Whichever you want, it has been a rough night."

Willow walked over to the TV and popped the tape in. Xander thought that even if the shirt wasn't as tight as the skirt she'd worn earlier it still clung to her curves as she bent forward.

When she came back to the couch, Xander raised his arm to offer her a cuddle. As she settled into his side, Xander wasn't sure if it was him or the influence of Lucan that was changing his behaviour towards Willow. Watching the mindless cops and robbers movie with Willow, Xander had instincts that he hadn't had before knowing how he could advance things with his best friend, he kept his hand in a safe position on her shoulder and just enjoyed the warmth and comfort of her arms around him. He felt her breathing change early in the movie, she was asleep cuddled against his side.

Xander on the other hand didn't fall asleep as quickly, he was still Xander of that he was certain but now he had memories of over two thousand years crammed in his head and his instincts and actions were quickly being influenced by Lucani, or Tony Lucan as he was last known in life. He wasn't certain if Lucan had been a real person or a character from a show, but he knew that he needed to get a sword that he wouldn't have to return to the watcher and needed to practice with it. By the same token the term watcher made him twitch, he had become aware of the group that seemed to be steering the Game during the English Renaissance, it have been one of the reasons he had taken to the sea – err – why Lucan had taken to the sea. As a merchant ship captain it was easier to avoid their notice and also meant he was more likely to encounter immortals on his terms. Other immortals, now there was a worrying thought. He thought he had carried over more strength and had much more knowledge than he had as plain old Xander Harris but didn't know how he would match up against someone who had been fighting for several hundred years. He didn't realize it but this pondering his memories was slowly absorbing all the knowledge and strengths of those Lucan had taken. His benefactor having many centuries prior figured out how to filter out the weaknesses of his conquests. The feeling of Willow holding him finally lulled him to sleep where the assimilation continued, the Primal standing no chance against the will of iron that the young man had augmented as it was by the centuries old soul of the immortal. Xander found himself in a dream scape standing before a shorter man

"Greetings Xander," the man said in Latin

"Are you real?" Xander asked.

"As real as any of the wonders you've seen that I never encountered in my long life."

"Why are you still here?" Xander asked realizing he also spoke in Latin.

"Because I am part of you now." As they spoke ah Hyena came out of the brush. Instead of growing and bearing its teeth it dropped to its haunches and looked at the both of them.

"For six months I've held the Primal at bay, am I going to have to do that with you too now?" Xander asked looking between the man and the beast.

"No, I think you will find you are dominant and won't be challenged but there are situations where our knowledge and instincts will affect you."

"How so?"

"for one, do you think you would be doing so well after killing that student if you didn't have our perspective on things."

"Am I immortal?" Xander asked.

"I don't know, it feels like this body is to me but I can't be sure."

They spoke of many things until their conversation was interrupted by the sound of screaming, startled awake Xander realized the movie had ended and the tv had flipped back to regular channels. Halloween of course meant that it was on some horror movie. He grabbed the remote and muted it trying not to disturb Willow. She stirred in her sleep and stretched against him, something he thought was delightful. She blinked sleepily at him.

"Hi," she said cutely, "I fell asleep, I'm sorry."

Xander kissed her forehead, "So did I, I should probably head home."

After a few more hugs, and tentative kisses, Willow walked him to the door. He went home and collapsed asleep.

He was awake before dawn and had the urge to work out, he knew it was all Lucan but went with it. After doing general calisthenics he took the sword that he hadn't returned to Giles and went through a set of exercises that were imbedded in his subconscious. Seeing that the sun had come up, he pulled on a pair of shorts and looking at his beaten up tennis shoes laced up the jungle boots he'd gotten from the surplus store over heavy socks. Running in the boots at first felt odd but he quickly got used to it. He thought to himself, 'Lucan you bastard, I'm not get up early and work out guy,' the only response was a small part of his mind telling him 'you will be'. When he got back home the thought, 'not bad for a first workout but I can do better,' came unbidden to his mind.

Xander was dressed and ready to head for school early He had his backpack with the note book and text for computer class, why he had agreed to take this class was beyond him – oh yeah, Willow had asked. After soaking the wallets of the two people he'd killed in bleach, he wrapped them in a paper towel to dump on the way to school The gladius just fit in his school backpack with a towel wrapped around it to disguise its shape a little. He took off on his skateboard. Even thinking that he should feel the morning's work out, he almost felt like he floated on the board. He made it to school with time to spare. Ducking into the Library he saw that Giles was already there.

"Morning Giles," he greeted the watcher

"Good morning Xander." He raised an eyebrow as Xander set the sword on the counter.

"Sir, I know I shouldn't have taken it without permission but I'm glad I did as I probably wouldn't be alive and I used it to kill a vampire and save a group of kids. I'd like to practice with it or another blade and would like you to help me purchase my own sword. I won't go looking for trouble but I live on the hellmouth and need any advantage I can get." Xander told the librarian.

"Xander, I certainly don't want you going looking for trouble but I can help you. There are a couple of sword makers here in the states who make blades that won't shatter at the first impact with another blade, I'll get you some information."

"Thanks."

The watcher looked at the clock seeing that they had thirty minutes before the boy's class started, "For the time being, why don't I show you some forms with this since it is probably one of the easier swords to carry"

Giles then showed Xander the most basic set of forms.

Xander followed his movements careful to show competence but not his full skills.

"You are picking this up quite quickly," Giles said amazed.

"Soldier guy has some memories of blade work with a different sword, so although my muscles don't know the moves yet my mind knows some of them."

"Quite impressive"

"Well, I'm glad to have a leg up since I remember the training and I know it takes weeks if not months to get the body to react correctly without having to think about each move and I don't think I'm going to be able put on a heavy metal album and have it all come back in a matter of minutes."

Giles just looked at him.

"You know a driving baseline and a few minutes showing off different moves and suddenly the clumsy but scrappy novice is ready to take on the big bad or the champion."

Giles cracked a smile, "I am aware of the cinematic tool, I just find it humorous, several of the watcher's diaries mention slayers in the last twenty years expressing how long training actually takes, even with their mystic affinity for combat skills. One of the watchers even referred to it as the Rocky phenomenon."

"Well one nice thing is I do have memories of how well the training pays off to keep me motivated."

"Xander, how much of last night do you remember?"

Xander considered how much to tell Giles, "I remember everything. I don't just remember last night, I have memories of his home town, growing up, his first kiss, going off to war, I'm trying to figure out if he was a real person or a character. But unlike Buffy, after a while it was like we shared memories." Xander said telling the truth but not the whole truth.

"Well perhaps you could have Miss Rosenberg help you search online." Giles said looking pensive.

Xander put on a fake shocked expression, "Mr. Giles, did you just admit that there might be useful information available on the internet?"

"Well yes, but before we get off topic – did you make it to the costume shop last night when you left Buffy's?"

"I –" Xander started and then broke off

"I ask because when I arrived the proprietor was dead and it appeared he'd been shot and possibly tortured before dying." Giles said looking serious.

Gathering his resolve Xander answered, "I did, and yes I killed him – or the soldier killed him – I killed him."

Giles started to say something.

"Let me explain, the soldier knew we had to end the magic. When pressed, and yes I shot him and stomped on his hand to get him to talk, he said that the bust of Janus was the focus of his spell and told me to destroy the bust to end the spell."

"Well yes, that could have worked," Giles interjected.

"I've read enough and seen enough in the last year. It might also have angered the invoked spirit of Janus." Xander paused, "it could have left things permanent for some or all of those affected by the spell. For example if as the focus of his anger he'd decided to leave me or those I love under the spell, How long could Willow's body have stayed alive? How long would Buffy survive as the slayer if she was less Buffy and more hoop skirt girl?"

"I see your logic," the Watcher said taking off his glasses, "and knowing Ethan Rayne that would have been the kind of outcome he would appreciate."

"You knew him?" Xander asked surprised.

"Yes, he and I knew each other when we were younger, he was not a good person," the Brit looked pained.

"If he was a friend, I am sorry for your loss. Anyone callous enough to endanger that many people for his amusement was not somebody I am comfortable leaving to stab me in the back," Xander explained.

"I have some concern for the ruthlessness of your actions, but I can understand your reasoning and think you did the right thing."

Xander brightened, having Giles tell him that his actions weren't murder was good to hear.

Giles glanced up at the clock, "Miss Calendar is expecting you, I believe. I would like to talk to you more about this later." Giles took the sword and began to meticulously clean it.

With a nod of acceptance, Xander quickly made his way to the computer classroom. There were centuries of knowledge stuffed in his brain, languages, economics, physics, maths, chemistry, music, and dozens of trades, but the knowledge of computers was down to sixteen year old Xander Harris, having the immortals memories and ability to analyze situations gave him a much broader perspective of how important computers were and would become. Xander remembered seeing his first computer in 1958, back then computers were something that scientists and a very few industries used, now they were used to keep attendance in school and get money instead of seeing a bank clerk face to face. Even if he wasn't immortal, and there was a part of him that fervently hoped he wasn't, he knew that they would only take on more importance over the next few years. The part of him that remembered the Roman census thought that they would make changing identities much more difficult. So it was with a renewed purpose that Xander sat down next to Willow, even though their actions the night before had been very outside the norm for Xander and Willow shaped people, he hesitated to call her his girlfriend until they had a chance to discuss things.

"Hi," she chirped and gave him a hug.

"Good morning." He said returning the hug with a smile.

"Well aren't you two making with the cuddliness," Buffy observed, a smile on her face.

"Yeah, we slept together last night" – Willow realized what she'd said, Buffy got a confused and somewhat alarmed look on her face – "By which I-I-I mean that Xander came over to my house and I didn't – we didn't realize how late it got – we watched a movie last night," – "Not meaning that there was any hanky panky type boy girl type stuff happening." Willow finished in a rush.

By this point both Buffy and Cordelia had stunned expressions on their faces.

"I think what the Willster means to say is that last night was so rough, after changing out of our costumes into normal clothes, we fell asleep **fully clothed **at her house while watching Point Break." Xander said placing a hand on Willow's hand to reassure her.

"Umm Keanu,,," Cordelia said. Buffy got a slightly dazed look on her face.

"Yes so in addition to his abblyness on screen, there was some cuddling but nothing scandalous." Xander said.

Further conversation was stalled by the entrance of Miss Calendar.

Xander paid close attention to the lesson for the day and when they broke off to work on their own, he quietly asked Willow if she wanted to either go out or hang out that evening.

"That would be great, what were you thinking of doing?"

"Well, I've been thinking that it would probably be a good idea for me to get a computer and I was hoping you could help me set it up, then maybe we could grab a burger and go dancing at the Bronze." Xander offered.

Willow lit up at the suggestion, "That would be great, what are you thinking about computer wise? I can help you put together something fairly inexpensive. But wait where are you getting the money for the computer?"

"Well, as much as I've been saving money for the road trip, Jesse and I were going to take, there are some things that are more important. I was thinking probably a laptop just because it would be simpler with my parents."

"Yeah that makes sense, I can also set you up with a screen name on my earthlink account, my parents don't use all our allotted accounts and there's a local line you can use so your parents won't freak about the phone bill." Willow said with a smile.

"Willow, I know you're good at the computer stuff, do you think you can find out what vehicle somebody owns?" Xander asked.

"yeah that's pretty easy." Willow said.

Xander dug out the license of the Vampire, sliding it over to Willow.

"Who's this?" Willow asked looking suspicious.

"A vampire the soldier dusted last night. Before he dusted him, he mugged him." Xander explained quietly.

"How?" Willow asked, keeping her voice down but her eyes almost bugging out. "How could he risk that before taking the vamp out?"

"Well, he shot him in the head and then cut off his arms."

Willow blanched.

"It's okay," Xander said, placing his hand on Willow's, "I know how dangerous it was, he could handle it."

Willow took the driver's license she started typing and clicking away. Xander went back to typing his assignment. After a few minutes, she hit print. Leaning back to grab a page off the printer behind them she folded it and tucked it in her notebook, they finished out the class with Xander asking Willow some questions to clarify. Turning in their work, they left the high school. Heading to the coffee stop, Xander ordered their favorite drinks unconsciously changing his usual order to black coffee. Once they had their drinks, they sat in a booth in the corner.

"Okay so talk,"

"Okay, so the soldier, was more than just a soldier, and here's where it gets tricky, I don't know if he was someone real or a fictional character, but I've got a lot of memories in my head – a lot of memories," he told his best friend. "Also I'm not sure how much I can tell the G-man."

"Why not?" Willow asked.

"Somehow I changed the costume by adding the sword. When I was checking in the mirror to make sure the sword didn't stand out, I said, 'There can be only one.'" Xander explained.

Willow's eyes went as big saucers, she squeaked, no intelligible words came out, just a sound of complete surprise.

"If it is real, I don't know if the Slayer watchers are the same as the watchers from the show and if they are, given how they tried to steer the game, I'd rather stay under their radar as long as possible. When you first approached me, all I could remember was being a Roman legionnaire which is why I spoke Latin to you. When I was shot I remembered up until 1965 being a member of the 101st Airborne in Vietnam."

"So checking the body for weapons and later mugging the vampire…" Willow trailed off.

"the Soldier, Lucan, remembers ending up without any resources on many occasions and if he could either rob brigands or had to defend himself from someone attacking him, he made it a point of taking anything useful. It's a habit that is pretty ingrained."

"So the fact that David Jones has two parking tickets on Camino St. in the last month means what?"

Xander held up the key ring, "That a Vampire who may or may not have recently come to town drove here. Given that he had a valid license I didn't know if he had a car registered in his name."

"A 1988 GMC 1500 tan Arizona license plate CJU1051." Willow supplied sliding across the paper she had printed out.

"Do you want to go look for it with me?" Xander asked. "Not as a date, looking for a vampire's truck does not constitute a date in my mind in no way shape or form." Xander realized he was approaching Willow level of babble but couldn't help himself.

Willow smiled at him, "No, my parents are leaving for another conference today and I'm supposed to have lunch with them."

"Okay, what time should I be at your house?" Xander asked.

"Why don't you come over around three, we can go shopping then have dinner at my place and then hit the Bronze."

"Sounds good."

With a hug and a brief peck on the lips, Willow left him to meet her parents.

Xander finished his coffee. On his skateboard it didn't take very long to get to the section of Camino where the two parking tickets occurred. After a half an hour of looking, he found the truck. It was four wheel drive, king cab, or whatever GM called them, with a camper shell. Digging the keys out of his pocket, he unlocked the toggles and with gloved hand opened the camper fearful that he might find bodies. There appeared to be a large lock box on one side of the bed and a camping pad and sleeping bag on the other side. The windows of the camper were predictably blacked out. Xander closed the lid and walked around to the driver's door. The truck started up no problem and the memories of working on vehicles for thirty years said it sounded like it was running well. Xander drove over to the elementary school which was deserted on Saturday and pulled in behind the cafeteria. He parked next to one of the dumpsters. Thanking the fact that it was November and therefore the trash wasn't as whiff as it would be in May or June. Now that he was out of the public eye, he searched the truck. He found the truck title and insurance card in the glove box along with an envelope that had money in it. Xander checked the cab thoroughly, under and behind the seats nothing much, for a Vamp, he kept his vehicle in good shape. The lock box turned out to have tools, clothes, and books in it. Most of the books were schlock crime novels and piqued Lucan's interest. The biggest oddity was a well loved looking teddy bear, Xander just shook his head knowing he would never fully understand Vampires. After checking pockets, he dumped all the personal items of the Vampire's in the dumpster and pulled a bag of kid's lunches over it, keeping the tools, books, and a leather jacket. Heading by a stationary store he purchased a blank bill of sale and two different color and shaped pens. Memories of two thousand years gave him knowledge of forging and it was easy enough to fill out the bill of sale in handwriting and sign it and the car title in a signature that matched the signature on the driver's license. Then he signed his portion of the bill of sale in a different hand. After burning the vampire's driver's license, he quickly obtained an insurance rider telling the agent that he would go to the DMV on Monday to register the truck. He drove home and parked on the street wanting to tell his parents he bought a truck before just pulling it into the garage.

His dad had slept through the hangover that usually resulted from Friday night and hadn't started his before lunch beer. "Who's truck?"

"I bought it from a friend of one of the guys in my computer class he was leaving on a job on a ship and had to get rid of it." Xander lied glibly.

"Where did you get the money for it?" His dad asked eying him.

"My trip fund, I figured it would make it easier for me to get a job this summer which should replace the money I spent." Xander answered.

His dad nodded, "Dreams are fine and good but growing up means dealing with realities, that's more sense than I would have expected."

Xander was both taken back at the backhanded complement and at the same time that was the deepest thing his dad had said in years.

"I won't help with insurance or repairs, you didn't ask my advice before buying it, but now that we don't have to drive you around, I'll give you a twenty now and then for gas." His dad pulled his wallet out and handed Xander a folded Jackson.

Xander was shocked, yeah he knew that having a car would make life easier for Tony Harris, the few times Xander had called his uncle Rory to pick him up had caused his uncle, who is dad worked for, to be none too pleased with his dad. Granted that hadn't happened for more than a year but Xander wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Thanks Dad," Xander said, the phrase unfamiliar in his mouth. "I'm headed out to meet up with my friends to work on a school project, we're going to go to the Bronze tonight."

Apparently their touching family moment was over, his dad turned dismissively, "Be quiet when you come in."

Xander went out and pulled the truck around the back of the house next to the split level entrance to his basement room. Giving the truck a mechanical once over, he didn't find anything wrong with it oil level was good and didn't look like it needed to be changed soon, brakes and tires looked okay, spark plugs looked good, no leaks that he could identify, beyond that there were systems which didn't really resemble his 59' F100. Checking his watch it wasn't quite noon. He decided to go shopping. It wasn't as good as a sword, but he remembered seeing some machetes at the army surplus store.

Parking on the street downtown, he fed some coins in the meter.

Stepping into the store, Mike, the owner, nodded to him. He'd talked to Mike several times about how and where to attach his grandfather's insignia to make his uniform look right. Mike had gone to school with his uncle Rory. Xander didn't see any evidence of the break-in the previous night. Before looking at weapons he decided to pick up a few things that fit with his new sensibilities. He was trying on a pair of steel toed utility boots when the store owner cleared his throat next to him.

"Here's your change kid," Mike said, handing him a ten and a five.

"Huh?" He replied confused.

"Your late night shopping trip."

Xander just looked at him.

"Last night wasn't the first time I've been broken into, the real security cameras are hidden. When I got here there was cash on the counter, which isn't normal for a break in so I watched the tape before calling the cops. I know you weren't the one that busted in, you just came after and you left money for what you took so no harm no foul on your part. I erased that portion of the security tape before giving it to the cops - it wouldn't do for my insurance adjustor to be able to say that I was paid for merch that was clearly stolen," Mike explained with a smile.

"So what can I do for you today?"

Xander gestured at the stack of things he'd accumulated, pants and shirts, a black field jacket. "Just picking up a few things, speaking of which I was planning to do some brush clearing and wanted to look at machetes."

"Brush clearing?" Mike asked raising an eyebrow. He turned and motioned Xander to follow him. In the corner was a display case. Xander knew this was the weapons case but before last night, he' hadn't had the money to do more than look.

"So Xander, a week ago you were a nice enough kid that wanted to make sure you didn't do anything to disrespect your grandfather's uniform. Last night you come through the door and quarter the room like someone who had urban combat experience. I can't explain that change, but wonder if Halloween was the first time you really saw the things that go bump in the night?"

"No, for a bit more than a year I've known and a group of friends and I do our best to bump back," Xander said.

"Well, it's not like I have a Good Samaritan lying around but are you looking for a machete" – he said holding up a US Army surplus machete – "or a Machete," he pulled a short heavier blade from the bottom shelf of the weapons case. Xander immediately recognized it as a kopis , It was ancient yet modern, blued so only a hint of shine showed along it's razors edge.

"Definitely like the later." Xander waited until Mike nodded and then picked up the short sword. Feeling it's balance he moved through a couple of forms, he thought it would do for the short term.

"It's made from 1055 carbon steel, heavy enough to do the job but light enough that you can carry it without tiring over much. Cold Steel makes it, that is from their machete line, if you want something longer or heavier they do make swords but I don't really keep those in stock."

"Do you have a catalog?" twenty minutes later and a fair bit of cash, Xander walked out with clothes, the kopis and two large kurkri. In a little over a week, he'd take delivery of a pair of cutlasses. He was annoyed that Cold Steel didn't actually make a gladius but would see what he could do about talking Giles into letting him use the gladius he'd borrowed on a regular basis. Xander decided to go home for lunch ticking off the things he still wanted to get, crossbow, bow, and bracers of some kind. No he told himself, he was not reverting to a D&D character now that he had money, he had two more years at least to live in this town and figured developing the skills that he had in the back of his brain would increase his chances of making alive until he turned 21 if he was going to continue hanging out with the Scooby gang.

Buying a computer with Willow turned out to be an experience. Rather than going to Compusa, she made him drive up to Santa Maria to a little strip mall.

"Rose B, what's up." The guy behind the counter said.

"Not much, Decker. Just want to get my guy a laptop to use." Willow said holding Xander's hand.

"Okay, what do you need?" the man asked Xander walking over to where he had laptops displayed.

Xander looked at Willow, who proceeded to rattle off a list of specs that might as well have been Greek, except that Xander now spoke Greek, and it wasn't Greek. In the end, he walked out with a refurbished IBM think pad for more money than he thought he was going to spend.

After a stop at Radio Shack to get him a splitter and an extra-long phone cord, they drove back to Willow's, Xander tried to absorb everything Willow told him as she got software loaded on his computer. Once she got his email set up and showed him how to log on to IRC showing him basic commands and usenet, she walked him through sending her an email. He could get used to squeals of delight and brief kisses as a reward system for learning new skills.

They ordered in pizza and munched while they worked on Xander's laptop. The Bronze was busy but they didn't see Buffy so they danced for a couple of hours and then went back to Willow's house. Their making out on the couch was tentative but with more confidence than the kisses the night before and left both of them gasping for breath. Xander's knew that if they didn't stop, they would go further than he was comfortable. He pulled back, "I should go."

"No, this is good, stay," Willow purred burrowing into his shoulder.

"We're new at this together thing, I don't want to go too fast." Xander whispered into her hair smiling.

Willow looked up at him, "You're right babystep – err no baby steps – I mean why would either of us mention babies – "

Xander silenced her with a kiss. "You are incredible Willow. I adore everything about you. I should go home. I'll see you tomorrow." He punctuated each sentence with a kiss, getting a big smile from her.

With a few lingering hugs at the door, Xander returned home.

Sunday morning, Xander was jogging down the road bathed in the rays of the rising sun wondering where life would take him.

END


End file.
